Movable or removable closures – Stored in housing – Reciprocates vertically in and out of housing
Patent
1998-05-15
1999-10-26
Stodola, Daniel P.
Movable or removable closures
Stored in housing
Reciprocates vertically in and out of housing
494961, B60J 116
Patent
active
059706597
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a sealing arrangement for sealing against a generally planar surface movable along a predetermined path, comprising mounting means for mounting the sealing arrangement adjacent the path to extend longitudinally in a direction generally transverse to the path, and sealing means resiliently supported on the mounting means and comprising flexible material defining a longitudinally extending hollow chamber having an outwardly facing flexible wall and a longitudinally extending sealing lip mounted on the flexible material defining the hollow chamber and projecting outwardly therefrom to a distal end of the lip for continuously and sealingly contacting the movable surface.
The invention also relates to a waist seal for sealing against a surface of a window pane which is mounted in the window opening of a motor vehicle and movable through a waist gap into and out of a lower part of a vehicle body part, the waist seal comprising a longitudinally extending channel-shaped gripping portion for mounting the waist seal adjacent to and extending along one edge of the gap, flexible material extending from the gripping portion to define a longitudinally extending hollow chamber having a flexible wall facing generally towards the gap, and at least one flexible longitudinally extending sealing lip carried by the flexible material and projecting away therefrom for making continuous sealing contact with one face of the window glass as it moves through the gap.
Such a sealing arrangement and waist seal are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,655. In this known sealing arrangement and waist seal, a sealing lip is shown for making continuous contact with a slidable window glass in a motor vehicle window carried by the vehicle door. The lip is integrally supported on the outside of a hollow chamber made of flexible material which is in turn supported by a panel of the door. This sealing lip is an extension of a wall of the hollow chamber.
It is desirable in sealing arrangements and waist seals of this type for the sealing lip to be in reasonably firm sealing contact with the window glass, in order to ensure weather-tightness and good sealing against noise. However, a problem with such sealing arrangements is the creation of "squeaking" noises created by the sealing lips when the window glass is moved up or down. This noise is unwelcome, particularly in high quality vehicles. The invention aims to deal with this problem.
Therefore, the known sealing arrangement as first set forth above is characterised in accordance with the invention in that the lip is mounted on and supported by the outwardly facing flexible wall at a position intermediate the longitudinal edge boundaries of the wall whereby the flexible wall provides resilient damping means for damping vibrations of the lips.
In addition, the known waist seal as first set forth above is characterised in accordance with the invention in that the lip is mounted on the flexible wall at a position intermediate the longitudinal edge boundaries of the flexible wall such that vibrations of the lip are damped by the flexing of the flexible wall.
A sealing and wiping arrangement is also known from EP-A-0 486 163. In this known arrangement, flexible material defining a hollow chamber is mounted adjacent a window glass slidable in a window frame carried by a vehicle door. The hollow chamber has a flexible wall facing towards the window glass and a wiper blade integrally extends outwardly from the mid-point of this flexible wall towards the window glass. The flexible chamber can be expanded and collapsed (e.g. by changing the air pressure) so as to move the wiper blade into wiping contact with the surface of the window glass for cleaning purposes. The wiper blade flexes angularly in either direction according to the direction of the movement of the window glass. For this reason, and also because this wiper blade is not continuously in contact with the window glass, the problem of the squeaking noise created by a sealing lip does not arise.
Sealing strips forming waist s
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Cohen Curtis A.
Draftex Industries Limited
Stodola Daniel P.
LandOfFree
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